17 CFR 32.7 - Books and recordkeeping.

(a) Each person which accepts any money, securities or property (or extends credit in lieu thereof) from an option customer as payment of the purchase price in connection with a commodity option transaction shall keep full, complete and systematic records together with all pertinent data and memoranda of or relating to such transactions. Such records shall at least include all orders (filled, unfilled or cancelled), signature cards, books of records, journals, ledgers, cancelled checks, copies of all statements of purchase, exercise or lapse, and reports, letters, disclosure statements and confirmation statements required by § 32.5 of this part, solicitation or advertising material (including the texts of standardized oral presentations and of radio, television, seminar or similar mass media presentations), circulars, memoranda, publications, writings, and all other literature or written advice distributed to option customers or prospective option customers. Upon the request of an authorized representative of the Commission, such person shall furnish the true name and address of each commodity option customer or prospective commodity option customer solicited.

(b) Each person referred to in paragraph (a) of this section shall also keep a record in permanent form which shall show the true name and address of each maker, underwriter, issuer or other person who assumes or purports to assume any financial responsibility for the fulfillment of any commodity option transaction solicited or accepted by such person, to the extent that such information is known or may be reasonably obtained by such person.

(c) Each person which accepts an order for a commodity option transaction from a person other than an option customer, shall keep full, complete and systematic records together with all pertinent data and memoranda of or relating to the transaction. Such records shall at least include the items set forth in paragraph (b) of this section and, to the extent necessary to reflect such person's participation in the transaction, shall include all items set forth in paragraph (a) of this section.

(d) Each person which accepts an order for a commodity option shall immediately upon receipt thereof prepare a written record of such order, including an account identification and order number, and shall record thereon by timestamp or other device, the date and time, to the nearest minute, that (1) the order is accepted, (2) the order is transmitted for execution, and (3) the order is executed.

(e) All records, memoranda and other documents required to be maintained by paragraphs (a) through (c) of this section, and to be prepared by paragraph (d) of this section shall be retained for the period specified in § 1.31 of this chapter, and each person required to maintain such records shall be required to produce the same for inspection and furnish true and correct copies thereof and information and reports as to the contents or meaning thereof when and as requested by any authorized representative of the Commission or the United States Department of Justice.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 3038-0001)

The comment periods for the Aggregation Proposal published November 15, 2013, at 78 FR 68946, and for the Position Limits Proposal published December 12, 2013, at 78 FR 75680, will close on August 4, 2014.

17 CFR Parts 1, 15, 17, 19, 32, 37, 38, 140, and 150

Summary

On December 12, 2013, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission”) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (the “Position Limits Proposal”) to establish speculative position limits for 28 exempt and agricultural commodity futures and options contracts and the physical commodity swaps that are economically equivalent to such contracts. On November 15, 2013, the Commission published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (the “Aggregation Proposal”) to amend existing regulations setting out the Commission's policy for aggregation under its position limits regime. In addition, the Commission directed staff to hold a public roundtable on June 19, 2014, to consider certain issues regarding position limits for physical commodity derivatives. In order to provide interested parties with an opportunity to comment on the issues to be discussed at the roundtable, the Commission published notice in the Federal Register on May 29, 2014, that the comment periods for the Position Limits Proposal and the Aggregation Proposal were reopened, starting June 12, 2014 (one week before the roundtable) and ending July 3, 2014 (two weeks following the roundtable). To provide commenters with a sufficient period of time to respond to questions raised and points made at the roundtable, the Commission is now further extending the comment period. Comments should be limited to the issues of hedges of a physical commodity by a commercial enterprise, including gross hedging, cross-commodity hedging, anticipatory hedging, and the process for obtaining a non-enumerated exemption; the setting of spot month limits in physical-delivery and cash-settled contracts and a conditional spot-month limit exemption; the setting of non-spot limits for wheat contracts; the aggregation exemption for certain ownership interests of greater than 50 percent in an owned entity; and aggregation based on substantially identical trading strategies.

2014-05-29; vol. 79 # 103 - Thursday, May 29, 2014

79 FR 30762 - Position Limits for Derivatives and Aggregation of Positions

The comment periods for the Aggregation Proposal published November 15, 2013, at 78 FR 68946, and for the Position Limits Proposal published December 12, 2013, at 78 FR 75680, will reopen on June 12, 2014, and close on July 3, 2014.

17 CFR Parts 1, 15, 17, 19, 32, 37, 38, 140, and 150

Summary

On December 12, 2013, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission”) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (the “Position Limits Proposal”) to establish speculative position limits for 28 exempt and agricultural commodity futures and options contracts and the physical commodity swaps that are economically equivalent to such contracts. On November 15, 2013, the Commission published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (the “Aggregation Proposal”) to amend existing regulations setting out the Commission's policy for aggregation under its position limits regime. The Commission has directed staff to hold a public roundtable on June 19, 2014, to consider certain issues regarding position limits for physical commodity derivatives. In order to provide interested parties with an opportunity to comment on the issues to be discussed at the roundtable, the Commission will reopen the comment periods for the Position Limits Proposal and the Aggregation Proposal for a three-week period starting June 12, 2014 (one week before the roundtable) and ending July 3, 2014 (two weeks following the roundtable). Comments should be limited to the issues of hedges of a physical commodity by a commercial enterprise, including gross hedging, cross-commodity hedging, anticipatory hedging, and the process for obtaining a non-enumerated exemption; the setting of spot month limits in physical-delivery and cash-settled contracts and a conditional spot-month limit exemption; the setting of non-spot limits for wheat contracts; the aggregation exemption for certain ownership interests of greater than 50 percent in an owned entity; and aggregation based on substantially identical trading strategies.